Graphics processors are widely used to render two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) images for various applications, such as video games, graphics programs, computer-aided design (CAD) applications, simulation and visualization tools, and imaging. Display processors may be used to display the rendered output of the graphics processor for presentation to a user via a display device.
OpenGL® (Open Graphics Library) is a standard specification that defines an API (Application Programming Interface) that may be used when writing applications that produce 2D and 3D graphics. Other languages, such as Java, may define bindings to the OpenGL API's through their own standard processes. The interface includes multiple function calls, or instructions, that can be used to draw scenes from simple primitives. Graphics processors, multi-media processors, and even general purpose CPU's can then execute applications that are written using OpenGL function calls. OpenGL ES (embedded systems) is a variant of OpenGL that is designed for embedded devices, such as mobile wireless phones, digital multimedia players, personal digital assistants (PDA's), or video game consoles.
Graphics applications, such as 3D graphics applications, may describe or define contents of a scene by invoking API's, or instructions, that in turn use the underlying graphics hardware, such as one or more processors in a graphics device, to generate an image. The graphics hardware may undergo a series of state transitions that are exercised through these API's. A full set of states for each API call, such as a draw call or instruction, may describe the process with which the image is rendered by the hardware.